Incredibly excited to join the team at Bose as the new CEO starting on September 1. This incredible team has been creating products and experiences that make people’s lives better for over 50 years. Can’t wait to get started. #bose

— Lila Snyder (@lilajosnyder) August 20, 2020

“We wanted the absolute best person, no matter how long the search took,” Bose chairman Bob Maresca told CNET. “Lila’s background, experience, track record and values are right for Bose, for the exceptional people who work here, and for our amazing customers who count on us every day.”

While the tech world has boosted its efforts to bring more women into the industry, the gains have been marginal. Google’s overall workforce, for instance, is only 32 percent women. Of those, 52 percent are white and 42 percent are Asian. Only six percent are Latinx and 3.7 percent are Black. The disparities are even more apparent when you look at the number of men versus women in CEO and leadership positions.

Bose doesn’t report its earnings, but Snyder is likely stepping in to the company at a difficult time. Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Bose announced plans to close all of its US and European stores, and earlier this summer it shut down its AR development. It consistently produces some of the best noise-cancelling audio gear, but we’re still waiting on the company’s long-promised noise-cancelling wireless earbuds.

“Mary W. Jackson was part of a group of very important women who helped NASA succeed in getting American astronauts into space. Mary never accepted the status quo, she helped break barriers and open opportunities for African Americans and women in the field of engineering and technology,” Bridenstine said in a statement.

Jackson was born in Hampton, Virginia, and earned a dual degree in math and physical sciences from Hampton Institute in 1942. She worked as a math teacher, bookkeeper and US Army secretary before joining the segregated West Area Computing Unit of the Langley Research Center. In 1951, she was recruited by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, which was later succeeded by NASA.

Jackson worked as a “human computer” for two years. After which, she conducted experiments in the 60,000-horsepower Supersonic Pressure Tunnel, which blasted models with winds nearly twice the speed of sound. Jackson was encouraged to take a training program that would allow her to advance from mathematician to engineer. But because the classes were held at the then-segregated Hampton High School, she needed special permission to attend.

Jackson did complete the training, and in 1958 she became NASA’s first Black female engineer. She authored and co-authored numerous reports and joined Langley’s Federal Women’s Program, where she worked to address the hiring and advancement of the next generation of female mathematicians, engineers and scientists. She worked alongside Katherine Johnson, Dororhty Vaughan and Christine Darden, also featured in Hidden Figures.

Jackson retired in 1985 and was awarded a Congressional Gold Medal posthumously in 2019.

“NASA facilities across the country are named after people who dedicated their lives to push the frontiers of the aerospace industry. The nation is beginning to awaken to the greater need to honor the full diversity of people who helped pioneer our great nation… We know there are many other people of color and diverse backgrounds who have contributed to our success, which is why we’re continuing the conversations started about a year ago with the agency’s Unity Campaign. NASA is dedicated to advancing diversity, and we will continue to take steps to do so,” Bridenstine said.